...TO STOP FLUSHING AWAY THEIR SAVINGS WITH SIMPLE GREEN HOUSEHOLD FIXES
Michael Phelps probably wouldn’t blink if asked to swim the length of twenty-five Olympic-sized swimming pools. But imagine asking him to save that much water?
That’s what Denver youth achieved by mid-2008. They also reduced the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by nearly two million pounds per year.
These gold-medal feats were accomplished as part of Denver’s Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) project. In 2006, MHYC partnered with the state’s Low Income Energy Assistance Program and began going into homes to conduct energy audits and distribute power-saving CFL light bulbs.
“We became aware of crews in Montana sending corps members into the homes of residents,” says Shanda Vangas, marketing and development director at MHYC. “So when we were exploring options of working in the area of energy conservation, we talked to our counterparts there and in California to get an idea of [how to do it].”
When officials at the city’s water utility, Denver Water (DW), got wind of the project, they knew they had found a means to achieve their goal of reaching and helping low-income people. They asked to piggyback their water audits onto the energy visits.
By 2007, the crews were out in force, and home visits included reducing water usage by replacing old toilets with modern, high-efficiency models. Older toilets can use more than five gallons per flush; corps members install toilets that use just one gallon. Toilets removed from homes are recycled and used as road base in highway projects.
Water conservation crew leader, Patrick Lundberg, trains corps members in plumbing and toilet installation as well as public education.
“The smiles that we’re putting on the face of these clients,” says Lundberg. “They’re getting something for free, and it’s also affecting their wallets.”
Households see about a 15-percent reduction in monthly utility bills, according to Anna Black, MHYC development and marketing associate.
Black says the corps has primarily served homes of elderly, disabled and Spanish-speaking residents. By August 2008, crews had serviced about three thousand homes and installed more than 35,000 CFL light bulbs and nearly 1,200 high-efficient toilets. They’ve also installed water-saving devices to faucets and showerheads.
Related Links:
1) http://www.milehighyouthcorps.org/
Photo Caption: A member of Denver's Mile High Youth Corps installs a water-efficient toilet in the home of a low-income resident. (Photo Courtesy of Mile High Youth Corps)
